Clock-escapement



(Model.)

C. REINHARDT.

CLOCK ESGAPEMENT.

No. 258,473. Patented May 23, 1882.

UNITED STATES PATENT CFFICE.

CHRISTIAN REINHARDT, OF NEV HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

CLOCK-ESCAPEM ENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 258,473, dated May 23, 1852.

Application filed January 25, 1882. (Model.)

vand State ofConnecticut,have invented a new Improvement in Clock-Movements; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying` drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description ot' the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in

Figure l, a side view; Figs. 2, 3, 4., 5, 6, and 7, detached views illustrating the construction and operation.

This invention relates to an improvement in the clock-movement for which Letters Patent were granted to me, No. 251,379, dated December 27, 1881. In that patent the balancewheel is arranged upon a vertical shaft, and so thatitoscillates in a horizontal planethat is to say, the shaft of the balance-wheel is at right angles to the shaft of the escapement or crown wheel. rlhe shaft of the balance-wheel was provided with three collets. On the lirst the acting tooth of the escapement-wheel would strike, and, working upon an inclined surface on that collet, would impart an impulse to the balance-wheel in one directionuntil the tooth would escape through a notch at the end ofthe inclined surface ofthe collet. Then the tooth would strike the second collet upon a dat or horizontal plane, and there remain resting until the impulse imparted by the action upon the first collet had been overcome by the hairspring, and thereby cause it to commence its return, when the tooth will pass from said second collet throughaJ notch therein and strike a reverse incline on the third collet and give to the balance-wheel an impulse in the opposite directionnntil the tooth will escape from that third collet. The shaft of the balancewheels has heretofore been provided with two collets, arranged so that the acting tooth of the escapement-wheel will bear upon an inclined surface of the first to impart an impulse in one direction; then, escaping from that incline, will pass through a notch in the collet at the end of the incline to the second collet, and there, acting upon a reverse incline, will give an impulse in the opposite direction. The second impulse must be greater than the first;

hence the incline is longer; and to make that incline longer the collet has been made thick, so as to produce the incline by cutting away the metal; but the thick metal necessary to thus make the second collet loads the balance so heavily as to make it impracticable for the lighter and cheaper class of clocks.

The object of this invention is to dispense with the second collet of my previous patent, and also make the second collet from thin metal; and it consists in a balance-wheel arranged to oscillate in a plane parallel with the axis of the escapementwheel, the shaft of the balance-wheel provided with two collets, one above the other, having'an incline in opposite directions one to the other, upon which the acting tooth of therescapeinent-wheel will op crate, first upon one to impart an impulse in one direction, then upon the other in the opposite direction; the second collet constructed from a thin disk ot' metal, and the incline produced by cutting a notch into the edge ofthe collet, then bending up that side of the notch where the incline is to he made into horn shape, whereby the requisite extent of incline is produced, as more fully hereinafter described.

Arepresents theescapement-wheel,arran ged 011 its shaft c, to which rotation is imparted in the usual manner. The train ot' gearing and the arrangement ofthe spring whereby this rotation is imparted are too well known to require illustration and description.

B is the balance-wheel arranged upon the vertical shaft C, and so asto oscillate in a planeparallel with the shaft of the escapementwheelthat is to say, the shaft of the balancewheel is at right angles to the shaft of the escapement-wheel, the balance-wheel being provided with the usual hairspring, b

On the balance-wheel shaft C is a collet, d, like the lower collet in my previous patent. It consists of a disk arranged in a plane parallel to the plane of the balance-wheel, having a notch, c, at one point, and from that notch inclined upon the upper side, as seen in Fig. 7 which shows an edge view of the collet, the under surface adjacent to the incline being dat, as seen in Fig. 7.

E is the second collet, which is also a disk, arranged above the first collet, as seen in Figs.

IOO

2 and 3. This collet is made from thin metal and constructed with a notch, f, as seen in Fig. 4, the notch cut so as to leave a horn-like projection, t'. This horn-like projection i is bent upward, as seen in Fig. 5, so as to give an inclined surface upon the under side, and of considerably greater extent than could be produced in metal of the thickness of the collet without such bending. The collet is therefore as much li gh terv than the thick metal collet would be as the bending,` increases the extent of the inclinethat is to say, by one-half the weight which the collet would bewere itinade in the usual manner.

The operation of myinvention is as follows: Supposing the movement to be in operation, the working tooth h, Fig. 3, bears upon the under side ofthe collet d, as it did in my previous patent, and rides there until in the rotation ofthe disk the incline not' that disk comes over the tooth. Then the tooth, bearing upward, rides over that incline, and by its force imparts an impulse to the balance-wheel in the direction in which it is then moving, and which impulse causes the wheel to rotate until the impulse thus imparted is overcome bythe hairspring. The actingtooth h passes oii'theincliue through the notch e, escapes from that collet, and strikes upon the plain surface ot the under side of the collet E, and there rests until by the reaction of the hair-spring the wheel is returned sufficiently far to bring the incline m ofthe second collet, E, over thetooth. Then the tooth passes up that incline, imparting animpulse to the wheel in the direction in which it is then moving-that is to say,in the opposite direction to that imparted by the iirst collet. The tooth escaping from that second collet through the notchfpermits the next tooth to work upon the under side ot' the lower collet and operate as before. By this construction the toot-h of the escapementwheel rests or rides upon the under surface of the upper or second collet, between the trst and second impulse, instead of upon the intermediate collet, as in my previous patent, thus avoiding the use ofthe intermediate collet, and the second collet is made very much lighter, and with at least as long` and strong an impulse incline as in the usual two-collet escapement. By this construction of the second collet the load upon the balance-wheel is so much lighter than it would be by the usual construction that I am enabled to employ the device in small and cheaper classes ot' clocks.

I claim- In a clock-movement, the combination ofthe eseapement-w heel, the balance-wheel arranged on an axis at right angles to the axis of the escapementwheel, with a collet, d, arranged on the balance-wheel shaft, constructed with a notch and with an incline from the under side to the notch in one direction, the second collet, E, constructed from a thin disk of metal, witha notch-,f,forming a horn-like projection, t', the said projection bent up to form the impulse incline in the opposite direction, substantially as described.

CHRISTIAN REINIIARDT.

Witnesses:

J oHN E. EARLE, J. H. SHUMWAY. 

